Phyllyp Sparowe

poem by Skelton

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July 16, 2026

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Phyllyp Sparowe is a poem by John Skelton, a Tudor poet and satirist. Written in a style known as Skeltonics, characterized by short, rhyming lines and natural speech rhythms, the poem is ostensibly a lament for a young lady's pet sparrow. However, it also functions as a lampoon of the liturgical office for the dead. Skelton's work often employed satire and protest, making his verse deliberately unconventional and provocative.12

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John Skelton
…poems from this period are Phyllyp Sparowe, ostensibly a lament for the death of a young lady’s pet but also a lampoon of the liturgical office for the dead; and Ware the Hawke, an angry attack on an irreverent hunting priest who had flown his hawk into Skelton’s church. Skelton…
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…poems from this period are Phyllyp Sparowe, ostensibly a lament for the death of a young lady’s pet but also a lampoon of the liturgical office for the dead; and Ware the Hawke, an angry attack on an irreverent hunting priest who had flown his hawk into Skelton’s church. Skelton…
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